"Neither Jewish nor Arab, Delisle explores Jerusalem and is able to observe this strange world with candidness and humor...But most of all, those stories convey what life in East Jerusalem is about for an expatriate."―Haaretz

Guy Delisle expertly lays the groundwork for a cultural road map of contemporary Jerusalem, utilizing the classic stranger in a strange land point of view that made his other books, Pyongyang, Shenzhen, and Burma Chronicles required reading for understanding what daily life is like in cities few are able to travel to. In Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City, Delisle explores the complexities of a city that represents so much to so many. He eloquently examines the impact of the conflict on the lives of people on both sides of the wall while drolly recounting the quotidian: checkpoints, traffic jams, and holidays.

When observing the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim populations that call Jerusalem home, Delisle's drawn line is both sensitive and fair, assuming nothing and drawing everything. Jerusalem showcases once more Delisle's mastery of the travelogue.

Guy Delisle spent a decade working in animation in Europe and Asia. His 2012 book, Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City, won the highest prize in European cartooning, the Fauve d’Or, at the Angoulême International Comics Festival. He lives Montpellier, in the south of France, with his wife and children.

The Comics Journal

National Post arts

Reviewed by Stephen Carlick
on
May 04 2012

Wisely, though, Delisle never divulges outright with whom he sympathizes. Instead, he leaves readers with a compelling image, on the penultimate page of Jerusalem, one that both depicts the realities of modern life in the Holy City and reflects his own feelings.